Vinh LongTens of thousands of pots of raspberry chrysanthemums in Cho Lach flower village bloomed more than half a month early, with traders forcing their prices down or dropping their stakes, leaving many households at risk of loss.
At noon on January 13, Ms. Duong Thi Truc Xuyen, 42 years old, stood blankly next to a raspberry chrysanthemum garden of about 1,000 m2 with more than 2,500 pots in An Hoa hamlet, Cho Lach commune. There is still nearly half a month left until the time of sale, but the entire flower garden is already in full bloom, bright yellow.
“Last year, at this time, traders came to deposit 170,000 VND per pair. Minus expenses, my family profited about 100 million VND,” Ms. Xuyen said.
Mrs. Duong Thi Truc Xuyen next to the blooming chrysanthemum and raspberry garden. Image: Hoang Nam
This year, because the flowers bloomed unusually early, traders were cautious about purchasing. To date, she has only sold about 500 pots at a price of 140,000 VND per pair, 30,000 VND lower than every year. Most of the remaining flowers have no output.
Not far away, the raspberry chrysanthemum garden of more than 3,000 pots of Ms. Truong Thi Lac, 54 years old, is in a similar situation. The garden owner said that this year the flowers grew well, were large, even, and beautiful, but traders still bought them sparingly because they bloomed early.
According to her, the cost of fertilizers and materials has increased this year. The total investment capital for the flower crop is about 120 million VND but so far it has only earned more than 40 million VND. Unable to sell flowers, in recent days, Ms. Lac has been harvesting cucumbers intercropped in the garden to have money to cover living expenses.
“My husband and I plan to sell the remaining flowers at low prices to the retail market, hoping to save some capital,” Ms. Lak shared.
Thousands of pots of raspberry chrysanthemums in Cho Lach commune bloomed early, causing farmers to lose money. Image: Hoang Nam
According to gardeners, raspberry chrysanthemum is a long-term flower, from sowing to harvest it takes about 6 months. This year, due to prolonged unseasonal rain, many flower gardens bloomed early, forcing them to “bigly reduce prices”. Some households with a high bloom rate sell flowers for only 100,000 VND per pair, but still have difficulty finding buyers, so they have to display flowers on the roadside for retail sale.
Cho Lach flower village (former Ben Tre province), along with Sa Dec (Dong Thap), are the two largest flower and ornamental plant growing areas in the West. According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Vinh Long, this year’s Tet flower crop in the locality has about 10-12 million flower and ornamental plant products, concentrated mainly in the communes of Cho Lach, Hung Khanh Trung, and Vinh Thanh.
Tens of thousands of pots of raspberry daisies blooming early at Cho Lach Flower Village, Vinh Long. Video: Hoang Nam
Mr. Tran Huu Nghi, Vice Chairman of Cho Lach Commune People’s Committee, said that the locality has more than 3 million flower and ornamental products serving the Lunar New Year of the Horse, of which mainly raspberry chrysanthemums, Dutch chrysanthemums and yellow apricot blossoms. Currently, about 50% of products have been ordered by traders, with prices ranging from 150,000 to 200,000 VND per pair, only raspberry daisies are affected.
“Due to unseasonal rain, about 30% of the raspberry chrysanthemum area bloomed prematurely,” Mr. Nghi said, adding that the province’s agricultural sector is instructing gardeners on technical treatments to limit damage.
Hoang Nam